how to care for a suit Archives

5 Ways You’re Ruining Your Shoes (And How To Fix Them)

Getting lazy with your shoe care and maintenance can really affect the look and longevity of your shoe collection. But, the fixes are easy and affordable. Just like we talked about in our closet essentials video, having the right care and organizational items are important for keeping your sneakers, dress shoes, and boots all in great shape and looking sharp.

Here are 5 ways you’re ruining your shoes and how to fix them!

1. Not maintaining the overall structure

You don’t want to allow the creases to set in as you store your shoes, it ruins the look and fit over time.

The Fix: Get some shoe trees. This simple accessory is critical for the life and overall look of your shoes. Plastic will work but we recommend cedar ones for durability and odor control.

Picks:

Cedar Shoe Trees

Plastic Shoe Trees

2. Not taking care of the leather

Unconditioned leather gets brittle, cracked and loses it’s longevity over time if not properly taken care of on a regular basis. This goes for all of your dress shoes, and doubly so for your boots since you might be wearing them in inclement weather.

The Fix: Get a proper shoe care kit and condition your shoes 1 to 2 times per year, more depending on where you live and what kind of weather you deal with.

Picks:

Conditioning Kit

Polish Kit

Deluxe Set With Valet

3. Not cleaning your sneakers

Dirty shoes don’t go unnoticed so even your sneakers need a little TLC every once in a while.

The Fix: Bare minimum, take a damp cloth and wipe your sneaks down once a week. About once a month, give then a proper cleaning with a sneaker cleaning kit. We recommend the great sneaker-specific cleaning kits and wipes below to keep your white sneakers looking fresh and clean. Also, a Magic Eraser will do wonders to your white leather sneakers.

Picks:

Sneaker Cleaning Kit

Sneaker Wipes

Magic Eraser

4. Ruining the backs of your shoes

When you’re stomping or stuffing your feet into your shoes will result in smashing the backs of your shoes. Over time this can cause irreversible damage to the structure and leather.

The Fix: Get a shoehorn. It will make your life easier and prevent this kind of damage. Pro tip: The longer the better so you don’t have to bend as much. Trust me, you’ll appreciate this.

Picks:

Plastic Shoe Horn (from the video)

Wood Shoe Horn

5. Allowing your shoes to get stinky

Do we really need to explain why stinky shoes are a problem? We hope not.

The Fix: Cedar blocks or balls, or, even better, cedar shoe trees all can help control odors and absorb moisture which can ruin the interior lining of your shoes.

Picks:

Cedar Blocks

Cedar Balls

Cedar Shoe Trees

Don’t Iron Your Shirts!

Proper clothing care and storage is something we talk about a bunch, and for good reason. Taking those few extra steps to properly care for and prepare your clothes are going to add an extra layer of both style and longevity to your wardrobe. In this week’s 2 Minute Tuesday we’re answering a great question about how to iron a shirt. Tune in, the answer may not be what you think!

Why?

We firmly believe that men should be steaming not ironing their shirts. Why? A few reasons:

It’s quicker and easier – You’ve got to set up the board, get all those weird angles and spots, it’s a lot. Whereas a steamer is much faster and way easier, a few runs from top to bottom on the front and sleeves and you’re done.
It’s better for your shirts – Ironing is tough on shirts and its easy to look away for a minute or use the wrong setting and damage or burn delicate materials. Trust us, an iron burn isn’t a good look! The steam is much more delicate on non-cotton or blended fabrics.
It’s more effective – The steam also does a lot better job of releasing tough wrinkles and creases than a standard iron or even a steam iron.

Our Steamer Picks

Whether you choose a handheld version or a full stand size, these are our two favorites.

Our go-to steamer

A full-size stand steamer

How To Steam A Shirt

As we mentioned, it’s super easy and effective. Here’s how:

Hang up the shirt
Steam the front from top to bottom
Steam each sleeve from top to bottom

That’s it!

How To Store Your Clothes

In addition to proper cleaning and washing, keeping your clothing in good shape and looking great has as much to do with how you store your garments it as it does with how you wear them. Proper storage is also key to extending the life of your clothes, whether it be investment purchases like a leather jacket or a suit or something as simple as a t-shirt.

So, in this episode of 2 Minute Tuesday we’re answering a viewer question about how to properly store your clothing and all the tools you need to outfit your closet.

Use The Right Hangers

They help maintain clothes and keeps them organized. We recommend jacket hanger for all types of jackets, from suits to bomber jackets. The shape helps support the jacket’s shoulders and structure.

We recommend clip hangers for any and all pants and felt hangers for all types of shirts and sweatshirts.

Hanger Picks:

Hang Your Pants Vertically or Folded Once

Hanging your pants vertically with a clip hanger is the ideal way since it will help hang out wrinkles. Simply attach the clip to the bottom hem of your pants and then hang. But, folded over once on a proper hanger works if you’re limited on closet space.

Always Fold Your Sweaters

You never want to hang your sweaters as it can damage the delicate material. Fold them and store them in a drawer or in the closet and don’t forget cedar blocks for keeping moths away.

Cedar Blocks For Preventing Moths

The 5 Best Closet Organization Essentials

Organization and storage are two things that a lot of guys often overlook when it comes to thinking about their wardrobe. Let’s face it, your clothes spend most of their life in your closet and in drawers rather than on your body so it makes sense to give their storage some thought.

Plus, how you store them is going to have a huge effect on their life as well. We’re not suggesting a Patrick Bateman OCD level of color coordinating but, in terms of getting dressed, having a well-organized closet is only going to help you make better, quicker decisions when you’re getting ready. We’ve got all our favorite picks below, make sure to check them out.

Good Hangers

They help maintain clothes and keeps them organized. We recommend felt hangers for shirts and pants and suit/jacket hangers for, well, suits and jackets. The extra width and structure help keep the shoulders of your jackets in good shape.

Suit Hangers

Wood Hangers

Velvet Hangers

Shoe Trees

A critical yet very inexpensive item that helps shoes keep their shape and prevents creasing and wear.

Cedar Shoe Trees

Plastic Shoe Trees

Shoehorn

One of these makes getting shoes on a breeze and prevents smashing of the back of shoes which can add extra wear and tear. We recommend the longer ones because they’re so much easier to use.

Plastic Shoe Horn (from the video)

Wood Shoe Horn